The material was contained in a laptop sized box, and was stored in a facility owned by Weatherford, a US oil company, and is normally used for testing flaws in oil and gas pipelines. The stolen device contained 10 grams of IR-192 capsules, which is an Iridium isotope, and classified as a category 2 radioactive source by the International Atomic Energy Agency. It’s not clear how potent this particular batch is, but it would likely injure anyone exposed to it within minutes, and kill within hours.

Iraqi security forces have been searching high and low for the stolen materials since November 13th, and have been in communication with local hospitals, who are instructed to alert the authorities if they find any patients with signs of radiation sickness or burns. It’s believed that whoever stole the device had an intimate knowledge of the storage facility, since “no broken locks, no smashed doors and no evidence of forced entry” were found.

Though the city of Basra is under the control of the Iraqi government, there are widespread fears that the Iridium could fall into the hands of ISIS. In the past, the terror group has been known to manufacture mustard gas, and there’s no doubt that they would be willing to build a dirty bomb out of the stolen device. Even without a bomb, the isotopes themselves would be incredibly dangerous if they were left outside of the lead shielded container.

Joshua Krause is a reporter, writer and researcher at The Daily Sheeple. He was born and raised in the Bay Area and is a freelance writer and author. You can follow Joshua’s reports at Facebook or on his personal Twitter. Joshua’s website is Strange Danger .